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Artifacts from a half century of cancer research

MIT Koch Institute

November 21, 2024

Throughout 2024, the Koch Institute has celebrated 50 years of MIT’s cancer research program and the individuals who have shaped its journey. In honor of this milestone anniversary year, the Koch Institute celebrated the opening of a new exhibition: Object Lessons: Celebrating 50 Years of Cancer Research at MIT in 10 Items. Object Lessons invites the public to explore significant artifacts—from one of the earliest PCR machines, developed in the lab of Nobel laureate H. Robert Horvitz, to Greta, a groundbreaking zebrafish from the lab of Professor Nancy Hopkins—in the half century of discoveries and advancements that have positioned MIT at the forefront of the fight against cancer.  

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A Genetic Enhancer and a Scholar

MIT News

June 30, 2021

KI member Anders Hansen joins the 2021 class of the Pew-Stewart Scholars Program for Cancer Research. This early-stage career award honors and promotes cutting-edge research into the development, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. Hansen’s work will explore the interactions between genetic elements known as enhancers and their target genes, focusing on c-Myc, a gene commonly overexpressed in cancer.

KI Welcomes New Executive Director

MIT Koch Institute

June 28, 2021

Jane Wilkinson is the new Executive Director of the Koch Institute. Building on her 20+ years of experience in scientific operations and alliance management at the Broad Institute, Cereon Genomics/Monsanto, and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Genome Center, Wilkinson will oversee the KI's overall outreach program, helping to build and manage collaborative interactions between the KI and academic, industry, and clinical institutions within and outside of MIT. She looks forward to meeting and working with the Koch Institute's talented community of researchers, collaborators, administrators, and friends.

Fate Accompli

Globe Newswire

June 28, 2021

Fate Therapeutics, founded by Rudolf Jaenisch, reported positive data from their ongoing Phase 1 trial of FT516, a natural killer cell-based cancer immunotherapy engineered using an induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) platform. Eight of 11 patients with B-cell lymphoma responded favorably to the treatment, with six achieving a complete response.

Culture Club

MIT Koch Institute

June 27, 2021

Introducing “Let’s Get to Know... Celebrating Diversity at MIT,” a podcast that invites Koch Institute members from different backgrounds to share their stories and the music, food, literature and more from their respective cultures. Join host Neel Bardhan to learn about Mongolian metals bands with fellow Belcher Lab trainee Uyanga Tsedev, the joys of cooking (and eating) pollo guisado with Building 76 custodian Kameron Santana, and finding a career while washing the lab dishes with KI director Matt Vander Heiden. 

Lodish Means Business

MIT News

June 24, 2021

Congratulations to Harvey Lodish and Hemann Lab graduate student Kate Koch on winning a 2021 MITx Prize for Teaching and Learning in MOOCs for 15.480x (The Science and Business of Biotechnology), an interdisciplinary course that emphasized understanding the science behind biotech while exploring novel business structures and financing methods.

Fittingly, two Lodish-founded companies report positive news this month: Epizyme launched a new diagnostic program for follicular lymphoma patients and Rubius dosed its first patient in a Phase 1/2 trial of a combination therapy for advanced solid tumors.

Strand and Deliver

Endpoints News

June 23, 2021

Strand Therapeutics, co-founded by KI members Darrell Irvine, Ron Weiss, and Weiss Lab alum Jacob Becraft (recently named among Technology Review’s 35 Innovators Under 35), has emerged from stealth with $52 million Series A capital. Strand is developing a platform for creating programmable, self-amplifying mRNA vaccines, and aims to bring its first drug, an immunotherapy for solid tumors, to the clinic in 2022.

On the Surface of Silicone

MIT News

June 21, 2021

Langer Lab researchers analyzed the relationship between the surface architecture of silicone breast implants and adverse effects that include scarring, inflammation and, in rare cases, lymphoma. The team hopes their data, published in Nature Biomedical Engineering, will help scientist and engineers design safer, more effective implants of any type.

A Foot in Both Worlds

MIT Koch Institute

June 18, 2021

The Koch Institute Clinical Investigator program offers physician-scientists a unique opportunity to participate in cutting-edge cancer research while continuing their medical practice, and provides Koch Institute researchers with a frontline view of challenges in cancer treatment. Past and present Clinical Investigators joined program director Michael Yaffe for a roundtable discussion about the relationship between laboratory benchwork and clinical translation and practice, and the influence of the Koch Institute community and research model on their careers. 

Branching Out from STEM

MIT News

June 10, 2021

Before launching into a career in medical research, Jacks Lab alum Natasha Joglekar ’21 shares how combining a major in computer science and biology with a minor in women’s and gender studies has helped her build new frameworks for understanding the world, patient needs, and the social determinants of health.

Ribon is Right on Target

Business Wire

June 4, 2021

Ribon Therapeutics, founded by former member Paul Chang based on his work at the KI, has reported positive data from the dose-escalation portion of its Phase 1 trial of a small molecule PARP7 inhibitor.  PARPs (poly ADP ribose polymerases) are enzymes that regulate essential cellular processes, including stress responses that enable cancer cells to survive and evade immune detection. In a trial of patients with various advanced solid tumors, Ribon’s candidate was well-tolerated, demonstrated target inhibition, and showed preliminary signs of antitumor activity, promising signs as the trial progresses to the next phase. Chang’s foundational research was supported in part by the Koch Institute Frontier Research Program via the Kathy and Curt Marble Cancer Research Fund.